The exhibition ‘Sketches of Spain’ by photographer Ola Kolehmainen has been recently shown in Barcelona at the SENDA Gallery. The exhibition summarized the last ten years of Kolehmainen’s work. In 2015, the artist was awarded the RIBA Honorary Fellowship for his contribution in promoting the architecture of his generation.

With his particular vision, Ola Kolehmainen seeks to show the constant abstractions that are partially hidden in modern architecture. His photography is dramatic and inspiring, we can find pieces of European avant-garde mixed with the crudeness of the materials and their uses. With minimal format, he shows us details we normally miss completely from well-known works such as the Barcelona Pavilion by Mies Van der Rohe (key architect in Kolehmainen’s work), or the Niemeyer Center in Avilés, by Oscar Niemeyer.

This retrospective shows a photographer with the soul of an architect who is able to find those wise, true, and magnificent games spoken of by Le Corbusier and twist them to give them a new meaning. His exhaustive study of light and architectural plans amazes and astonishes, his language is equally baffling and satisfying. Thanks to the SENDA Gallery we have the opportunity to enjoy a completely different point of view of details that we’ve surely forgotten. Enjoy!